Manifesting Compassion in Our RelationshipsWidening our compassion to others and creating a better world

<Registration is now closed. Please email office@tsechenling.org if you'd like to join the waitlist. Thank you!>

​​In this class we will explore how to increase our ability to be compassionate with ourselves, our loved ones, and people we find challenging to interact with. We will also explore how we can meet the suffering in our world and actively respond to it from a compassionate stance. We will explore how to bring compassion into our social justice activism. We will apply the teachings and practices of Buddhism and Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in this class.

Research at Stanford medical school is showing that compassion results in a deep sense of well-being, it promotes the immune system, and also results in decreased levels of stress. According to Dr. Doty, founder of Stanford's Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, "Compassion is what is going to save our species". Buddhism considers compassion one of the two wings of the great bird of awakening along with wisdom. According to the Dalai Lama - "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." Modern research and Buddhism are unified in the belief that we can increase our ability to be compassionate.

Note: No prior knowledge or experience with Buddhism of NVC is required to participate. All are welcome. No one is ever turned away for lack of funds; please email office@tsechenling.org for work study or service options.

There will be a one hour lunch break. There are some dining options within walking distance of Tse Chen Ling but participants can bring food to eat as well.

About Ven. Tenzin ChogkyiVenerable Tenzin Chogkyi is a Buddhist nun, activist and popular Buddhist retreat leader and teacher. Venerable Tenzin first became interested in meditation after reading "Be Here Now" and "Autobiography of a Yogi" in the early 1970s. She describes her spiritual path over the next 20 years as “meandering and haphazard” until she bought a one-way ticket to India in early 1991 with the intention of meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In the end, she became a student not only of His Holiness, but also of Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the year she spent studying at Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala, India and Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal.After returning to the US, Venerable Tenzin worked at various positions within Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). She was director of Vajrapani Institute, co-director the FPMT International Office, and coordinator of FPMT Center Services. She also completed several long meditation retreats over a six-year period.Venerable Tenzin took preliminary ordination vows with Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 2003 and novice ordination in 2004 with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Since 2006 she has been teaching at various FPMT centers around the world.

Venerable Tenzin is teaches at both the foundational and in-depth level as well as leading long retreats. She is also a teacher of the a.r.t. of Fulfillment, one of the secular programs of the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom, and in October 2017 will be beginning the teacher training for Compassion Cultivation Training, a program developed by Geshe Thubten Jinpa and colleagues at Stanford University. In addition, she is certified teacher of Cultivating Emotional Balance, a secular program in dealing with emotions developed by Alan Wallace and Paul Ekman at His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s request. She resides at Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel.

​About Sunil Joseph"I have been a student of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) since 2004. In 2008, I attended BayNVC's yearlong Leadership Program to both deepen my personal NVC embodiment and also to learn to share NVC with others. Ten years later, I continue to be amazed by the power and simplicity of this approach to meet life in a compassionate way. While I am not a certified NVC trainer, I am happy when my personal practice benefits others. I consider myself a lifelong NVC learner and explorer."

Registration is now closed. Please email office@tsechenling.org if you wish to be added to the waitlist. Thank you!